Helping travelers with hidden disabilities explore the world

TWP Travel Tip: Get a Room With a View…

…or entertaining enough decor to keep you amused if you end up spending much of your trip in your room.

Despite all my planning and strategies, sometimes things just don’t go right for me on the road, and I end up spending lots of time in my hotel room.

On that trip to Toronto, I spent the first 48 solid hours of the weeklong vacation in a hotel room styled in Business Bland, with a view of the next skyscraper over. As I lay in the comfy bed staring out the window, I wished someone would have sex in a cubicle over in the office I could see into.

Now I try to pick a hotel that’s got either fabulous views, or fabulous rooms. I can’t usually afford places that have both, like the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, but I dream about it a lot.

I ODed on the Overwrought Victorian B&B style when I was researching for Moon California. If I never stay in another room that’s been hosed down in Pepto-Bismol pink floral print, it will be too soon. On the other hand, I could spend a week finding new cool little details in the rooms at the Arden Forest Inn of Ashland, Oregon.

I’ve discovered that urban hotel rooms don’t have to be a total bore. The Custom Hotel in LA is convenient to the airport, and includes some awesomely whimsical decorative details. Taking whimsy to the next level, the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco brightens my mood just by existing. The stripey walls and textile choices help too.

If I know I’m probably going to be hanging out inside the room for most of a weekend getaway, my favorite thing is a nice big window I can see from the bed. Outside that window, I love to see the ocean, a lake, a meadow, some pretty trees…something that can make me feel closer to the outdoors even though I’m staying inside. The Cypress Inn of Half Moon Bay, the Blackthorne Inn in Inverness (California), and the ocean view condos at the Puamana resort in Lahaina all fit the bill beautifully.

And if all else fails (except for the money), there’s always the Ventana.